


Frida the Cheerful Ghost

by MarimenCarmen2



Series: Frida the Cheerful Ghost [1]
Category: El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Día de los Muertos | Day of the Dead, F/M, Ghost Frida Suarez, Halloween, Haunted Manny Rivera, Manfrida, Mexican Horror, Other, Other ghosts that be revealed, Scary Movies, spooktober2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-07-24 00:35:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarimenCarmen2/pseuds/MarimenCarmen2
Summary: Manny moves into a new apartment.He expects water bills and bug problems, not a bubbly, glowing girl who's dead set on making him feel better.





	1. Frida the Cheerful Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it's October and in October 31st it will be Halloween or Day of the Dead in Mexico, i decided to write about a boy who meets a ghost girl.Since she died, she is now a ghost in a old apartment until she meets Manny Rivera, So i decided to make a fanfiction that focus on her and the other ghostly characters from El Tigre: Manny.

"We've arrived."

The car pulls up to a fancy black gate patterned with swirls. A silver signs reads 'Casa de Macabre' in intricate calligraphy.

They pull into a parking space and step out of the car, grabbing their takeout and tilting their heads up.

They step into the elevator.

A light ping is heard as they reach his floor.

"What's the number?"

"Apartment 4S"

They walk down the winding hallway.

"Finally," Manny mumbles. He pulls the sleek keycard from his hoodie pocket and unlocks the door. He's a bit nervous, as he's been to the building itself, but hasn't actually seen the room yet, save for a few pictures.

The front room has a single reddish pink couch that clashes spectacularly with the walls and floor, which is a pale yellow.

Manny picks at the tattered couch and decides it's still better than the floor. Until he buys a mattress, at least.

He heads to the bathroom, which is about as clean as he expected it to be. The shower curtain is a particularly wonderful shade of blood red. He thinks the walls look pink and doesn't have the energy to deal with that right now.

He stretches out onto the couch and sinks into its lumpy cushions, closing his eyes and preparing for sleep.

***

"Hi"

Manny jumps three feet in the air, scrambles so that his back is pressed to the edge of the couch.

"Who goes there?"

Manny mentally face palms at his gut reaction.

"Sorry Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" The voice is filled with way to much kindness for this early in the morning.

Manny's eyes finally adjust to the darkness and he blinks a few times in disbelief at the girl standing—no, floating in front of him.

She appears to be translucent and glows a light blue. She is similar to her mother. She wears 1920s clothing.

"W-who are you?!"

"Well, I'm so glad you asked," she beamed, placing a hand on her chest and rising up a few inches, "My name is Frida Suarez, and I'm a ghost!"

"What—"

"Don't worry, I'm not like other ghosts, I won't try to hurt you or anything. But it'd be nice if you'd refrain from trying to harm me, please? The last guy was pretty mean. I just want to make friends"

"Frie—"

"But I think we might just get along! We already have so much in common! You were writing songs, and I wrote songs. You're wearing yellow and I love red. Though, you and you're friends—who I would love for you to introduce me to. You see, I'm more of a ghoulash kind of nina."

"Did you seriously just make a—"

"Anyways I really, really, really hope you want to be friends with me because I love talking to people but I can only do it in this apartment!"

Manny gapes at the ghost—Frida—who is bent over with her hand out as if she wants to shake hands.

"What the–how do you–what even–arghh," Manny puts his hands up against his forehead and rubs it, really hoping he can wake up now, "I'm going to need a minute to process this."

Frida tucks one foot behind the other and leans back in an ghostly chair, "Take all the time you need, novio. I know this can be tough to grasp."

Manny weakly growls, "Don't call me novio," as he tries to stop panicking.

"Of course, of course," Frida reassures quickly, "You're looking a little blue there " The ghost hovers over to Manny tentatively, "Are you okay?"

"Mm—fine," Manny gasps.

"Okay, listen to my voice—Manny, right?"

Manny nods shakily.

"Okay, breath in."

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

"Now hold it."

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.

"Out slowly now. You're doing great."

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.

They continue like this for a couple minutes, Frida talking in her comforting voice and Manny following her instructions. Finally, Manny gains enough courage to say something, trying not to think about how bizarre this whole situation is.


	2. Manny the Short Tempered Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a week since Manny's beliefs were thrown off the rails, and Frida has a request for him.

Manny wakes up with a rare twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step.

It's been a week since he moved into the ratchet apartment, and things are going uncharacteristically well by his standards.

As of two days ago, Manny purchased a bed and mattress. 

Why did he decide to keep it again?

"Hello"

Oh, yeah. That.

Manny moans, frustrated at the unwanted attention, and lays an arm over his eyes. He quickly sends a prayer. "I thought you were leaving me alone until I'm ready to deal with you?"

Frida quirks her head to the side and gives a way-too-friendly smile, "Well, to be completely fair, Manny, you seem pretty used to me by now. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're just putting off talking to me because you're scared to."

Frida looks at him the way a father would when scolding a child, and what's worse is it's making Manny feel like one.

Sure, he hasn't really warmed up to the idea of sharing a living space with a ghost.

After Manny's little freak-out, Frida took a full two days to even show up again.

But then the otherworldly girl finally payed a visit, and Manny almost screamed as loud as he did the first time. Frida just sauntered into the living room, humming and emitting that same blue glow from before. Thank Dios, she didn't try to talk to Manny, and instead floated right on through the wall, eyes closed happily, as if he didn't even notice the goth girl in the corner silently going into cardiac arrest. Manny then considered the possibility that he was a hallucination rather than a dream.

For the whole week, Frida has been parading around wearing a genuine grin and curious eyes, and Manny's secretly starting to feel bad for ignoring the girl.

"Avoiding your problems won't fix them, Manuel!"

However, Manny is not in any way equipped for Frida to initiate the interaction.

Unfortunately, Frida doesn't seem to care , "Manny, I just want you to know that I would never be talking to you like this if I thought that you were scared. But all friendships take a little getting used to, and I would hate for a little pre-best-friend jitters get in the way of ours even starting! I just don't see why you have to keep pretending I don't exist. It's definitely not very," she takes a dramatic pause and sticks out her bottom lip, "—Well I hate to say this, but it's definitely not the jeeper creepers."

And for some reason, that comment is what starts to make Manny feel guilty.

Manny sits up with a grunt and digs his palms into his eyes before opening them slowly, "Okay. Sorry"

"You know?" Frida urges him earnestly, obviously not knowing.

"Well—you are a ghost, and it's a bit unusual. So..." Manny trails off. 

"Of course, whatever concerns you may have are completely valid! I understand that there are stereotypes when it comes to us. There certainly are a handful of bad apples in the spectral community, " Frida flaps her hands reassuringly, "but I'm one of the nice ones! Promise! Most of the ghosts I've met are the most adorable little munchkins you'll ever meet!"

"I'm sure they are," Manny mutters, unconvinced, "And what do you mean other gho—"

"They're adorable and sweet and I will fight you on that," Frida says cheerfully, "And sure there are other ghosts, chico tonto! Why—you live near one of the only places in the state with an a-boo-ndance of us! In fact, I'm surprised you haven't met one of them before."

"You mean there are a lot of ghosts here?" Manny eyes the walls suspiciously

"Well, not in these apartments. The closest one to here haunts the Mattress Empire just down the street—"

Manny wrinkles his nose. What kind of ghost haunts a mattress store?

"—And five of my closest friends live in the Mall! Isn't it wonderful that I died near so many other ghosts? I haven't spoken with them in ages, though, and they hardly interact with humans. They must get uber-bored, the poor things. I feel terrible for them. At least I get to talk to one of you guys a couple times a year," Frida deflates a little, sinking towards the floor, "but most of you high-tail out of here pretty quickly after meeting little-old-me."

Manny inhales sharply, because uh-oh: emotions.

Frida seems to realize that she lost her bright disposition and perks up immediately, "But enough about my problems! I've decided that I'm going to help you get used to me, so that we can finally become friends!" Her smile grows a bit with every word and it's hurting Manny's head (because how can someone, who presumably died here in this apartment, be so painfully happy?).

But Frida's face dims slightly as she says, "However, if you really don't want me here, I won't bother you anymore," her voice is much softer now and her glow seems to be more translucent than usual, "I can disappear in a second if you want me to," She becomes fully invisible for a moment, giggling, "Neat-o trick, right? An old friend of mine taught me how. I didn't think it would come in so much handy until I met the first tenant. But, if you wanna give me a chance," her voice is lighter now, "it's not like I have any human friends that I can access."

Manny vaguely remembers saying something along those lines to his friends from high school.

"So?" Frida glides closer, with a hopeful look on her babyish face, "What do you say? Friends?"

Manny blankly stares her in the eye.

Manny's decided. He is not going to get involved with any ghosts, and that is final.

But then he thinks back to their first meeting.

He thinks of Frida's soothing voice coaxing Manny through his breathing exercises.

He thinks of Frida's very human attachment to the trodden couch in the living room and how there's probably some backstory there.

"All right," Manny grumbles.

Frida flies into the air and does a speedy loop-de-loop of pure joy, "Yes! I swear I won't let you down, Manuel! I'm going to be the best friend you've ever—"

"But," Manny holds up a finger, attempting to keep a strong demeanor, despite how tooth-rotting-ly sweet this is getting (he is so going to regret this, because he doesn't think he'll be able to maintain an argument with sweet, innocent Frida), "There are going to be a few rules."

"Sure, whatever you say, goes," Frida says sincerely, lowering herself and crossing her legs as to listen to Manny like a child, "Fire away."

Manny continues, "Right—Well, rule number one. Don't sneak up on me when I'm making food. 

Frida cocks her head, "But weren't you using a butter knife?"

Pink tinges Manny's cheeks, "That's not the point! As a matter of fact, don't sneak up on me at all. Just to save me from any injury."


	3. Don't be Afraid!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manny's starting to warm up to the peppy ball of happiness that is Frida.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter: mentions of child abuse.

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"I said no, Frida—and if I turn around and you're pointing to the cherries, I will literally move out of this apartment."

"...Don't turn around."

Manny sighs and piles the groceries into the fridge, thoroughly done with Frida.

The ghost's voice suggests that she's donned the adorably spooky puppy-dog face, so Manny keeps his back turned as Frida asks,"But why not?"

"Because, we both know that you'll turn my face into something Sergio would wear, and there is not a single thing on this earth that I want less than that."

"But Manny..."

"There is no way you will be touching my stuff! And, side note, how would that even work? In case you haven't noticed, you cannot make physical contact with me." He gesticulates wildly in the general direction of his newfound spectral friend.

"I could guide your hands for you, I won't bother you when you meet Davi this eveni—"

"For the last time, no!" Manny finally turns back with a fierce huff

He catches Frida's fleeting buoyant expression just as it falls into a neutral one.

"Now, Manny, there's no need to lash out at me like that," Frida chides softly, crossing her arms while seeming to realize that Manny's refusal goes deeper.

Manny sighed "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Manny."

Manny raises his eyes as Frida hovers her blueish hands atop Manny's and starts breathing loudly and deliberately. His friend inhales and exhales slowly, weirding Manny out a little until he recognizes the pattern from the day they met. 

"Okay, Manny," Frida settles herself on the arm rest, lowering her glow, "What's bothering you?"

Manny grunts and starts, "It's just—it sounds stupid," he pauses, but upon seeing Frida's encouraging look, he feels a small (and unfamiliar) seed of confidence take root and takes a deep breath, "You know Zoe Aves, right?"

Frida looks surprised, "Of course, i never know Zoe Aves before."

Manny facepalmed "No you idiot Zoe Aves she's a girl from Leone Middle School i think she's bullying a rich girl who was abused by her parents"

"Bullied?" Frida's expression immediately does a one-eighty, face turning stormy in a way Manny's never seen before.

"Yeah," Manny says sadly, "Her name is Pacifica Noroeste."

But her parents were jerks and treat her badly" Frida cries, distressed. Her eyes fill with wisp-like tears that seem to be a condensed version of the rest of her translucent body.

"Apparently that doesn't matter. As long as she tried to kill herself, but someone take her to the hospital."

"Then it wouldn't be Sergio," Frida finishes, understanding.

"Exactly," Manny states fondly.

"She used to be a nice girl before her parents abused her," Frida expresses, her luminescent tears floating to the ground much slower than normal tears would, "I used to be friends with a rich girl when I was alive."

"Indeed she is," Manny murmurs

"I'll stop bugging you now," Frida says as she levitates off the couch, "I'm sure my incessant buzzing is starting to get annoying."

"No!" Manny yells a bit too quick, startling Frida.

"Is there somethin' else, Manuel?" the ghost inquires, seeming worried.

"Well," Manny clears his throat, "That was really thoughtful of you—and, if you're still up for it, you could helped me impress the mean girls? Maybe—if you want to?" 

"Really?" She sinks fully back into the room, eyes wide as saucers. The beginnings of her signature grin start to form on her face.

"Yeah, but just dancing okay? Nothing too extravagant."


	4. Cheer up Frida

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manny tried to cheer Frida up when she's feeling blue.

"Manny what's going on?"

"I don't know what's happening!?"

Manny turns on the basement lights.

"Manny......Manny.....Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O' Brian Equihua Rivera!"

Manny screamed like a girl.

"What is going on?"

"Okay this is what happened."

A child is walking with her father and taking very seriously her job of carrying a box that apparently contains a puppy. 

Frida is floating overhead and hears the child quietly talking to the box, and saying "You're going home with us". Then the ghost of the dead puppy floats out of the box, licks the child on her face and fades away. 

Frida smiles and thinks "How nice".

"Fridaniella Cristina Lorena Rosalina Suarez!"

"Uh-oh"

"Get these butterflies off of me!"

A white butterfly landed on Manny's nose which makes him sneeze.


	5. Ghostly Best Friends Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A old friend of Frida's is coming to Miracle City

Manny and Frida were playing video games, but he notices Frida was feeling sad.

"Frida"

He hears a ghostly moan. "Uh-oh"

There was a limousine driving to the apartment.

A limousine door opens revealing a girl with brown hair, brown eyes and tanned skin. She wears a grayish green dress and a hat with a feather.

It was Sophia, Frida's childhood friend back in the 1910s (Titanic era)

Sophia sings poorly which impress the crowd but upsets the ghost of a short tempered yet unlucky man named Dali.

Manny said "Dali why is Frida upset."

Dali said "Well before Frida died she used to be friends with Sophia since the Titanic Era until one day......the beauty pageant tears them apart."

Manny gasped "Dali! I can't do that it'll break Frida's heart."

But Manny heard a beautiful singing voice and it was Frida.

"Frida!"

Manny and Dali hugged Frida.

"Frida I must tell something......"

But it was interrupted by Sophia's horrible singing.

Dali growled "Sophia!!"

Frida said "Sophia and I used to be friends back in the titanic era until....."

Flashback opens

A girl with bright blue hair, blue eyes and tawny skin. She was wearing a bright red dress. She was singing a sad yet adorable song.

Frida heard someone clapping and it was Sophia.

Sophia said "Frida I love your singing it inspires me"

Frida blushed.

Frida was balancing books on her head and walking.

Sophia clapped.

Frida and Sophia were doing this together until one day.......

Frida and Sophia were dancing in the rain but they saw a flyer that says Little Miss Rosa Winner gets to go to a charm school.

Frida and Sophia squealed

Frida pulled out a necklace "Wait I think I found it in a cemetery and it's a necklace."

Sophia said with tears in her eyes "Oh Frida" as she put the necklace.

The beauty pageant began with Frida, Sophia and the other candidates.

First the evening gown 

Sophia was wearing a pink dress with bows.

Frida was wearing a green dress.

The swimsuit contest

Everyone is wearing a swimsuit.

And the talent contest.

A blonde girl was playing an xylophone on a lion's teeth and the crowd cheers

A African girl was doing ballet and the crowd cheers.

A Asian girl was tap dancing and the crowd cheers.

Sophia sings poorly and the crowd covers their ears.

"We tried everything all she have to sing."

"I think I'm gonna be sick from Sophia's terrible singing."

Frida was wearing a white dress.

Sophia growled "Buena Suerte Frida"

The curtains open

Frida was walking while carrying books on her head.

And the crowd cheers much to Sophia's dismay.

"And the winner is.......Sophia"

The crowd gasped and Sophia is going to a big trophy.

Frida said "Sophia I'm proud of you I'm glad to have a friend like you."

Sophia glared "We are not friends Frida a boy cheating on you with me so I won the pageant."

Frida's heart brokes

"What!? No no you're lying"

Sophia snapped her fingers and her "friends" carry her.

Sophia laughs 

Frida was heartbroken ever since.

Flashback closes

Frida hummed a song with the tears in her eyes. " Manny after I died they buried me in the cemetery on Dia De Los Muertos."

Manny said "Uh-oh"

Dali said "Uh-oh is right I never forgive Sophia for what she did to Frida and we're gonna teach Sophia a lesson."

Thunder crash

Sophia sing songed "Frida!"

But she heard a sad yet creepy song and it was Frida that playing a old music box when she was still alive.


End file.
